Learning To Make Wallets

[MonicaJacobson]

I've been practicing making wallets the last month or so. I bought an 8spi vergez iron in November, and am enjoying getting to use it. Obviously, I used my normal 6 spi on some, but I'm definitely moving towards 8spi for wallets. Just need smaller thread and needles.

First to last, minus the dragon wallet I've already posted.

LOL, the first one was beyond terrible:

These are a little better, I hope.

[plowboy73]

Ok i am blown away by the coolness of your tooled ones. Looks great to me!

[capsterdog]

They all look wonderful. I am still testing my wallet theories, I hope they look as good.

[texback]

That's some pretty nice wallets you have there/

[MonicaJacobson]

Thanks guys!

There have been a few discussions on how to get consistent stitching. I tried three out of four ways this month. 1. use a chisel to punch holes in all the pieces, then glue together. Hard to get stitching to line up. The whole wallet goes wonky if anything is at all misaligned.

2. use a chisel to go all the way through all layers at once. On the tooled wallets, I ended up getting crooked stitching lines even when I thought I was keeping the chisel completely parallel.

3. the x way - glue everything together, punch half-way on each side, and connect with an awl. I was skeptical, but this way seems to be the most consistent. I'm completely converted.

[25b]

3. the x way - glue everything together, punch half-way on each side, and connect with an awl. I was skeptical, but this way seems to be the most consistent. I'm completely converted.

Yep. Glad to hear that worked for you. That's the way I've been doing it for a long time and it works great.

Edited February 19, 2015 by 25b

[kwelna]

Your wallets look great, switch from a chisel to a pricking iron and then complete the hole with an awl. I think you again will see a bit of improvement in the looks\alignment of the stitching.

[MonicaJacobson]

25B -ha, I thought you'd feel justified. Now you just need to convert Joe.

kwelna, - the 6spi is the chisel and the 8spi is the pricking iron. You're right, there's definitely a difference, and it's not just the size. Guess I need to save up for the whole collection.

[BigMatt]

Have you tried Tiger Thread? I really like it on smaller items. It is soooooo consistent.

Also, the diamond chisels from Tandy aren't slanted enough from me. All of my stitches seem to run together and bunch up on themselves. I like the ones from leathercrafttools.com

Edited February 19, 2015 by BigMatt

[MonicaJacobson]

Oh yes, I love it. That's what I used on all of these. The problem is, even the .6mm isn't thin enough on a single layer. On the lizard skin one, you can see it looks too big along the top where I sewed the lizard skin to the pigskin. Joe recommended Royalwood linens, but I need to chase them down by phone as they haven't answered my e-mail. Of course, the other alternative is Au Chinois, but it's $48.00 + shipping for only 820 feet! Crazy. I did find out you can get waxed Tiger thread in .4mm from Abbey England (at $64.00 + shipping) for 1000 meters. But only in "mid brown" and black. I was hoping to find cream.

[WinterBear]

http://www.fineleatherworking.com/linen-thread

They have the Au Chinois for $36 for 133 m (about 436 ft) in their coarse, $48 for 285 m (about 935 ft) in their fine (plus shipping, of course). A whole bunch of colors too.

Leatherwurx has 25 and 50yd lengths of Tiger thread, and can get full spools if desired. They have a wide range of color and widths. 25yds in cream in 0.8mm diameter thread will run you $7.50, plus shipping.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/183375598/08mm-tiger-thread-25-50-yard-samples-the?ref=shop_home_feat_2

They say they carry all widths, so you might write them up and see what they have in 0.4 mm cream.

Edited February 19, 2015 by WinterBear

[MonicaJacobson]

Yes, I was looking on fineleatherworking.... they don't have what I want in cream, unfortunately. I was really hoping LeatherWurx would have the right size (thanks for the link, btw), but they said they don't stock anything that small.

However, I ended up ordering from Royalwood. 2-ply waxed linen thread at .52 mm, $16.00 for 600 ft. We'll see how it does. When I have money to spare, I'm definitely going for the Au Chinois.

[cds]

Those are just beautiful! Very elegant and well designed.

[Ta2ooz]

Those are very nice, good work

[MonicaJacobson]

Thanks guys! Just got some exotics from Springfield, now I have to figure out what to do with them. Yikes.

[BigMatt]

OOOOOOH! I smell a few crocodile watch straps!

[MonicaJacobson]

Ha, I wish! This is caiman, so it's ridiculously thick and plated. Apparently crocodile is much thinner and more manageable. However, there were some pieces big enough to do some nice inlays, so that will be awesome. Much better than the other exotics pack I got. That was mostly lizard, and wasn't very useful.

[Hi Im Joe]

25B -ha, I thought you'd feel justified. Now you just need to convert Joe.

kwelna, - the 6spi is the chisel and the 8spi is the pricking iron. You're right, there's definitely a difference, and it's not just the size. Guess I need to save up for the whole collection.

Not gonna happen. I tried it a couple times and to me the stitch is even less consistent from side to side. Maybe its the way I pass the needles through but for me I've gotten the best most consistent stitching from using Valerie Michael's method from her book. For me too I hate pricking two pieces and then trying to line everything up.

[MonicaJacobson]

Well, I must admit that the stitching isn't always correct.. you can see an inconsistency or two in the way the stitch lays in the croc print one. Are you going all the way through with the chisel? Or going part-way through and finishing with an awl? Once I get an awl blade thin enough for 8spi, I might end up doing that as well. It's about half as much work if your awl is sharp and you have a groove or mark to guide your stitching line.

[WinterBear]

Bummer about them not having the threads you wanted. I was hopeful.

Those are some nice exotics! The caimans are kind of stiff--I have a few odds and ends of that myself--but I've seen some lovely inlaid journal covers and small notebook holders with caiman--because the inlay is on the flat front covers, it doesn't matter that it's stiff. It would also make a nice inlay for a a purse flap, or the back of a ladies clutch or long wallet?

[MonicaJacobson]

WinterBear, that's exactly what I was thinking. Bag flaps seem to be the safest bet. I'd like to do portfolio pouches, but I'm not sure how much demand there is for something like that. Laptop sleeves would also be fun, but the variation in size is so great.

[RStevenson]

Oddly enough I like the first wallet you made the best, it seems like it has some character and the leather has a really nice look.

Edited February 21, 2015 by RStevenson

[BobW]

Monica,

Nicely done! I especially like the contrast in texture and color between the exotic and the smooth leathers.

I'm a little reluctant to offer advice on stitching. But what I will do is share with you the process that works for me.

My first pieces done with a stitching chisel were awful! I've slowly got to the point I can keep the lines straight (nearly) all the time. The process that works for me is as follows:

1. I mark my stitch line with an scratch awl, making a fairly deep impression.

2. I mark stitch position in the grooves left by the awl with the chisel. I press the chisel down firmly by hand to leave a highly visible and tactile mark.

3. I align the stitch line away from me, not side to side, to better control the angle of the chisel.

4. I position the chisel by letting it fall into the the divots I left earlier.

5. From this point on, my focus is solely on keeping the chisel perfectly vertical. I don't look at the mallet, only at the chisel. I don't try to hammer it through with one blow. I use multiple light and then medium blows. I take my time to re-position the chisel after each rap of the mallet.

6. I don't use a stitch groove on the front but I do apply a light groove to the back after it is punched.

An example of my stitching can be seen in my album that I just posted in the Gallery section.

Thanks,

Bob

Edited February 21, 2015 by BobW

[MonicaJacobson]

RS - that's Horween Derby, a veg tanned similar to Dublin. It's a cool leather, and my 7 year old would agree with you. He's using it to carry his money. Castoffs, one of the perks of childhood in a home with a leatherworker.


Bob, thanks for your detailed procedure. Your end product looks great, I was just looking at it in the gallery before you wrote this comment. I imagine the parallel technique might work well if you have a good eye and focus. And if you can avoid the multiple steps other methods use, that's an added bonus.

[Hi Im Joe]

Well, I must admit that the stitching isn't always correct.. you can see an inconsistency or two in the way the stitch lays in the croc print one. Are you going all the way through with the chisel? Or going part-way through and finishing with an awl? Once I get an awl blade thin enough for 8spi, I might end up doing that as well. It's about half as much work if your awl is sharp and you have a groove or mark to guide your stitching line.

I mark it with the iron and then open the hole with an awl. When I first started doing it this way (I switched from punching the chisel all the way through the leather) it looked horrible. There is definitely a learning curve and some muscle memory that needs to be developed. I feel much more comfortable with it now. I know that the more I practice the better I'm going to get.